


Coming Home

by DeadlyBingo



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-22
Packaged: 2018-05-22 07:09:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6069931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadlyBingo/pseuds/DeadlyBingo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moira Queen spent 4 years in prison for her involvement in the Undertaking, but was released following an appeal she never expected to go through. Now, the family that has changed so much in the years she’s been gone, must adapt with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moira

Four years.  Having watched two children grow up, Moira Queen knew a lot could change in only four years, but she never expected this much.  

Moira watched her son driving for a few silent moments, relishing that she could once again reach out and touch him without being reprimanded by a guard, before she spoke up. “Felicity didn’t join you to pick me up?” she questioned, trying to keep her tone as nonchalant as possible.  It was true she hadn’t always cared for Felicity Smoak, but now that that woman was carrying her grandchildren, and would be her roommate until they could repossess the mansion (or, more realistically, find another suitable home for a woman who had lost both her business and fortune), Moira would have to live with it.

“You know she’s on bed rest mom, she would have been here.” Oliver sighed, readjusting the sunglasses on his face as the setting sun shot an orange glare across the windshield.

“She really wanted to,” Thea piped up from the back seat, reaching forward to squeeze her mother’s shoulder in an act of unconvincing reassurance.

“Oh, yes, like all those visits where she just sat behind Oliver? Occasionally piping in awkward and uncalled for comments?”  Moira cut herself off and drew a deep breath before continuing.  “I apologize… a lot has changed… there’s just… a lot I’ll need to adjust to,” she finished with a sigh.  It was true that a lot of changed. And a lot of that change seemed to overlap with the young IT girl who had stolen her son’s heart (and her family’s company).

“I know, mom…” Oliver reached over and grabbed her hand with his before placing it back on the steering wheel.  “But we’re going to make it all work.  We have each other.” Moira looked over at her son, just quickly enough to see a blissful smile spread across his lips before he added on, “and two more in about a month.  I’m glad you’re home in time to meet them.”

Moira felt a rush of relief flood into her chest. It was news of the new additions that gave her the strength to hire yet another lawyer to fight her case, to address Malcolm’s role in the undertaking and her lack of real power over the tragic events for which she had been convicted.  

And her son was easily happier than she had seen him since before Robert’s death, if ever.  And because of that she would _try_.  She would try to enjoy their loft (which she guessed was barely the size of her mansion’s master suite).  She would try to befriend her future daughter-in-law.  She would try not to criticize or even question what was being done to save her once thriving business.  She would even try to ensure her face wouldn’t flinch when she spots her engagement ring from Robert on that girl’s finger.

Suddenly Oliver broke the quiet of the car, his voice was small, even nervous, “Mom…”

Moira looked back to her son to realize his face had changed.  Despite the beard, he suddenly looked like her innocent, little boy again.

“Felicity is worried you hate her.” He admitted, casting an apprehensive glance in Moria’s direction.

“Well that’s foolish.” Moira chided before catching her tone and starting again. “I barely knew the girl before I was incarcerated.  I thought she was a little too curious for her own good, sure, but I never cared enough to hate her.”

“Yeah, mom.  Tell her that.  She’ll totally stop thinking you hate her.” Thea’s voice was perfectly reminiscent of her most difficult teenage years.  Oliver must have had the same thought because he immediately let out a chuckle.

“Thanks for the help, Speedy.”

“No problem…” Thea paused just momentarily before continuing, “…big bro.”

Moira instinctively reached one hand behind her to Thea and her other to Oliver’s shoulder, “I am _so_ glad you two had each other over the last few years.” She admitted with a sigh, before adding, “and I promise.  I will be nice.”


	2. Felicity

Felicity prodded at her rounded stomach, trying to distinguish her growing anxiety from the weight of two babies quickly running out of room. She tried to remind herself that she was initially overjoyed when Moira’s appeal went through; but at the moment she could only focus on how long she would be living with an intimidating woman who had the power to make her question her every word with a single glare. Felicity’s only distraction was the knowledge that the group’s return meant dinner was imminent and her ravenous hunger outweighed any fear of embarrassing herself in front of Moira Queen.

However, before Felicity could rouse herself out of the bed to greet everyone, she realized the flurry of activity downstairs had dwindled down to a single pair of heels on the hardwood floor.  Felicity didn’t even need to check her phone to know the text she would find.  There had been an emergency in the Glades and the muscle of team arrow was called in to deal with the situation.  So, instead of sitting around a table with the distraction of Oliver’s delicious food and Moria’s two charming children, Felicity would be on her own: free to ramble about anything that to came to her mind (which she swore was even less filtered since becoming pregnant).

As the silence settled outside the bedroom, Felicity allowed herself to hope that Moira had gone out for a walk, was taking a shower, or was even so exhausted that she already turned in for the night. But, just as she began to relax back into her pillows, the sound of Moira’s heels reverberated up the stairs.

“Are you awake?” Moira asked before lightly knocking at the door.  Felicity couldn’t decipher if the barely audible taps were an attempt to be considerate or a purposeful effort not to be heard.  

While Felicity resisted the urge to pull the covers over her head, she contemplated just how long she and Moira could put this conversation off.  

“You know,” Felicity whispered to her rounded belly, “if you two want to join us _right now_ , that would be swell.  That’d distract your grandma from me for a few weeks!”

But, to Felicity’s disappointment, rather than jumping to action, both babies suddenly stopped squirming, as if settling in for the show.  Their only movement was a kick to the ribs just as Moira knocked once more. “Fine, but I’ll be sure to remind _both_ of you about this later,” Felicity grumbled before calling out, “I’m up, come on in.”

“Oliver and Thea took off the second we walked in the door.” Moira revealed before the door was even fully open, “Oliver got some phone call from Mr. Diggle and he and Thea turned around once we got here.” Moira paused, looking around the bedroom for a moment before returning her attention to Felicity in the bed, “I had no idea he was still employing Mr. Diggle.  He spent so long trying to avoid him when they first met.”

“Well, John isn’t exactly _employed_.  They’re good friends. We’re all friends.” Felicity replied, trying to reign in her constant need to over explain.

Moira shook her head, “Friends or not, it’s still odd my son would abandon his mother, who hasn’t even had a meal outside the prison cafeteria in four years, and his pregnant fiancé, because of a phone call from a _friend_.”

“Oh, are you hungry? I can…” Felicity paused, suddenly remembering that even if she weren’t ordered by multiple doctors to stay off her feet, she was completely useless in the kitchen.  “I can order something?” She offered weakly, “Big Belly Burger delivers pretty fast?”  Felicity regretted the words almost as quickly as they exited her mouth.  Not because Moira responded negatively, but because suddenly all she could think about was how quickly the delivery boy would make it if bribed by a very generous tip.

To Felicity’s surprise, a nostalgic look flashed across her soon-to-be mother-in-law’s face.  “Yes, that’ll do fine.  Do you have a number I can call?” Moira paused, “And a phone?  I’ll have to get a new one.”

Felicity didn’t even try to hide her smile as she grabbed her tablet from Oliver’s side of the bed.  “Done, and done,” she declared after a few quick taps, “they have an app for quick ordering now.”

The air filled with a heavy silence for a moment before Moira motioned to the monitors Felicity had in place of a bedside table, “Quite the computer set up you have here?”

Felicity paused, trying desperately to read Moira’s tone.  First the woman agreed to Big Belly Burger for dinner, and now she’s trying to make small talk?  Felicity had assumed nothing could make her as uncomfortable as those prison visits where Moira barely acknowledged her presence.  She was wrong.

“I… work from home a lot recently.” Felicity finally answered, quickly checking that both screens were free of vigilante business before turning back to Moira and attempting to change the subject.  “Did Oliver at least show you your room before running off?  The closet isn’t quite as big as your old one… but Thea pulled out some of your things from storage so you’d at least have a wardrobe.”

“Thea mentioned it in the car, yes.  Though I imagine quite a bit of it is out of style by now.”

“Oh, well, um, we can always sort through it and-”

Moira shook her head, “For now I just need to be thankful I’m not in a jumpsuit.  But how about I go take a look at what was left and I’ll rejoin you for dinner?”

Felicity let out a sigh of relief as Moira took a few steps back toward the door, “And I’ll check in about when Oliver will be home.”

* * *

“I almost forgot how hungry I was when pregnant.  It was overwhelming with Oliver.  I was sick more often than hungry with Thea.” Moira let out a light laugh as Felicity inhaled another bite of her burger at the kitchen table.

“Yeah, well, my mom always said I ate like a teenage boy anyway.  Swore it would catch up with me at some point.  But somehow I’ve gotten _hungrier_. I’ve even brought snack bars to restaurants incase the food wasn’t served fast enough. Hopefully it’ll calm down once the twins are born, or else I’ll never fit back into my old skirts. Or my heals.   _Oh god, I could never wear my heals again.”_

To Felicity’s surprise, Moira’s face didn’t even flinch at the rambling; rather she let out a light laugh before sipping the wine placed beside her half-finished meal.

“Are you sure you don’t mind the burgers?” Felicity asked. “There are much nicer places that deliver. Or I’m positive Oliver has some meals frozen for after the babies arrive, we could heat one of those up?”

“Actually, I quite like these burgers,” Moira admitted, picking up a fry with a guilty grin, “Oliver took me to this ‘Big Belly Burger’ not too long after he came home from that island.  I’ve thought about that meal a lot since being away.”

“Then we actually _do_ have something in common!” Felicity gushed, only catching the implication of her words after it was too late.

“And we didn’t before?” Moira questioned, placing her burger back onto her plate with a raised brow.

“Well…” Felicity’s mind raced for a way to take back what she had just said but, of course, her mind came up blank.  Finally, she sighed and admitted, “Other than Oliver and Thea… I wasn’t sure we had a lot in common.”

Moira didn’t miss a beat before giving Felicity the same genuine smile that so often graced her son’s face, “But that is the _most_ important thing to have in common, dear.  Your family, who you love, that creates a bond stronger than any shared interests.  And I’ve never doubted your love for Oliver, or for Thea.”

Felicity tried to find any hint of deceit in Moira’s face, but for once, she knew she could trust exactly what Moira was telling her. “But… I was always convinced you hated me…”

“To be quite honest, at first I thought I did,” Moira admitted before pausing just long enough for Felicity to feel her heart stop in her chest, “but then I realized I just hated that you could see through my secrets so easily.  And by that point… well, my secrets had become so much of who I was that I was embarrassed by what was left underneath.”

“Moira, I-” Felicity tried to interrupt but Moira rose a confident hand to stop her.

“But, I suspect now that you know what it means to keep secrets so important that you believe the world will fall apart if they are exposed.”

Felicity’s breath caught in her throat as she cast another worried glance to her laptop on the kitchen counter.  She had been so careful, held her tongue so well, how did she already reveal Oliver’s biggest secret?  

“Oh you didn’t reveal anything, dear.  I had my suspicions about what Oliver was up to long ago.  And by keeping up with the news these last few years and comparing the Vigilante’s work to when Oliver was in and out of town, well, it wasn’t hard to confirm what I already knew.  Plus, looking at your face right now I can confirm that you are just as involved as I previously suspected.  Oliver never was very good with computers anyway.”

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“And risk guards overhearing?  Plus,” Moira added with a smile, “I suspect you’ll need someone to watch the little ones while you two are off saving the city at night.”


End file.
